Talk to The Hand

I have a new project in my pitch pot.  A hand, in the "fear not" mudra.

Here you see the liner work done, using the small curved liner and the small straight liner.  My intention with this piece is to gain more skill with the use of the liner tools, and to scale the work so that the repoussee work, the raising from the back, is scaled properly for the tools I have for that purpose.

The lines are also places where the metal is work hardened, so there are "channels" of softer metal where I can punch up a third dimension when I begin the repoussee.

I used a planishing tool to push back the metal around the hand, thinking to harden that area as well.  Ordinarily, that wouldn't be done, but I am also experimenting here with the possibility of pure chasing, that is, working only the front of the piece.  That requires good liner work, so I think at this point I am getting closer, but I do have farther to go to reach that goal.  A lot of traditional chasing is worked just that way, front only.

Here's the workpiece flipped over and remounted in the pitch, ready to begin repoussee work.  I will use punches in the areas between the raised lines.

It's a tricky mental shift from a flat drawing to dimension, adding relief to the concept, which actually will make the image change proportions, I think, getting narrower, or at least that's the plan.

After repoussee, I will anneal and clean the workpiece, fill the back with pitch, remount, and refine, using liners, planishers, and matte tools to add texture.

Stay tuned, and see how it goes!